This invention generally relates to a gripping apparatus and more particularly, to an improved glass gripping apparatus capable of securely holding small pieces of glass during a glass grinding process. The apparatus permits a user to safely and efficiently grind glass.
Various glass grippers are known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,207,030 discloses a device for holding small glass pieces for grinding comprised of two curved, crossed arms or shanks pivotally connected. This device may be placed flatly on a surface of a grinding table during the grinding process. The device is similar to pliers as the user must constantly squeeze the arms together to hold a piece of glass therebetween. Thus, the user cannot release his grip of the arms during the grinding process without the glass being released from the device.
A similar glass gripping apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,961,291. This apparatus also closely resembles and functions like a pair of pliers as the apparatus has two curved, crossed arms pivotally connected. Again, the user must constantly squeeze the arms together to hold a piece of glass therebetween, and there is nothing to stabilize the device when placed on a grinding table.
It will be appreciated that it is desirable for a glass gripping apparatus to be able to secure the glass between its arms without the user having to constantly squeeze the arms together. Without the capability of a glass gripping apparatus being able to alone secure glass between its arms, the user must always concentrate on squeezing the arms of the apparatus together so that the glass does not slip out from between the arms and injure the user. When the user must concentrate on applying pressure to grip the glass, his dexterity and flexibility are limited and this limits his ability to freely move the glass with respect to the grinding wheel.
It is also important for a glass gripping apparatus to be able to support glass securely in a generally parallel disposition to the surface of a grinding table during the grinding process. Furthermore, it is desirable to be able to freely manipulate the device with the glass held therein since edges of the glass to be ground are frequently wavy or serpentine and the glass must be manipulated in many directions against the grinding wheel.
Although there are other devices pertaining to various hand held tools such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,065,650; 4,461,193; 2,815,777 and 3,263,535, none of these tools are particularly useful for holding glass. The tools disclosed in all of these patents have curved arms or shanks with a spring between the arms biasing the arms towards each other. The arms of the devices in the '650, '193, and '777 patents are both curved and crossed. Due to the curved arms of all of these tools as well as the crossing of the arms in the devices disclosed in the '650, '193 and '777 patents, a user cannot place the tools on a flat surface such as a grinding table of a grinder. Furthermore, the arms of these devices are incapable of safely and securely holding a piece of glass between them. For example, the device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,815,777 has clamping jaws with teeth connected to the respective ends of the curved arms such that a piece of glass would be scratched or shattered if held by these jaws.
It will be appreciated that while certain of the noted devices have a biasing spring located between the respective arms of the tools so that an object can be held without the user having to continually squeeze the arms together, the tools do not readily accommodate the gripping of glass or the presentation of glass to a grinding wheel. Furthermore, the known tools do not permit a user to place the tools flatly against a grinding table of a grinder during the grinding process. Thus, the glass cannot be ground at a preferable parallel disposition with the grinding table and at a preferable perpendicular angle against the grinding wheel.
Accordingly, the primary objective of the present invention has been to provide a glass-gripping apparatus capable of securely holding a small piece of glass without the user having to continually squeeze the arms or shanks of the apparatus together to securely hold a piece of glass therebetween.
Another objective of the present invention has been to provide a glass gripping apparatus capable of being placed securely but movably upon a surface of a glass grinding table of a grinder having a grinding wheel protruding therefrom, so that the glass can be ground at a preferable parallel disposition with the grinding table and at a preferable perpendicular angle against the grinding wheel, and can be easily moved with respect to the table and the grinding wheel to accommodate the grinding process.
It has been a further objective of the present invention to provide a glass gripping apparatus capable of freely sliding across a table surface of a glass grinder so that a piece of glass held thereby can easily be manipulated for grinding along the entire length of an edge thereof.